Canadian Committee of GL Meets in Montreal

Thursday, September 13, 2007

The "Hull Lifecycle Management Report" was introduced at the 13th annual meeting of the Canadian Committee of Germanischer Lloyd in Montreal. It is a tool to monitor the ship's condition throughout its lifetime, according to Jens Schreiter, Head of Division Ships in Operation at Germanischer Lloyd. He presented the Hull Lifecycle Program (HLP) which generates a 3D-computer model of the ship's hull to evaluate the longitudinal strength, fatigue and buckling. With the results of this calculation an in-depth survey of both the vessel's hull and machinery is conducted. Thickness measurements as well as extensive tests of relevant machinery elements will be taken to support the survey. The results will be used to monitor the ship's condition throughout the lifetime and help to immediately react on variations in the measurement results.

Rainer Schöndube, Member of the Executive Board Germanischer Lloyd, presented the overview of the classification society's activities in the past year. He was able to draw attention to the enormous growth of Germanischer Lloyd's fleet in service. Within a single year the fleet in service grew by 10 million GT to 70 million GT. Dr Karin Kammann-Klippstein from the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) offered a different perspective in the ongoing debate on the environmental impact of transportation. She discussed current environmental issues under consideration for the air transport industry including fuel efficiency and routing. Amongst the speakers was also Benoit Cormier, Director Production Support at Davie Quebec, one of Canada's leading shipbuilding companies. He informed committee members about current activities regarding newbuildings and ship repair at this recently revitalized yard. Finally, Stephen Gumpel, Area Manager North America, reported that Germanischer Lloyd had been authorised to participate in the US Coast Guard's Alternate Compliance Program on September 7th.